Trolley-catcher.



J. Y. PORTER.

TROLLEY CATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED 141511.29, 1912. RENEWED JUNE 25, 1914.

1,122,420, Patented Dec. 29, 1914.

2 SHEETSSHEET 1 WITNESSES a ar-Ma a THE NORRIS PETERS C0,, PHOTO-LITHQ, WASHINGTON, D. C.

J. Y. PORTER.

TROLLEY GATGHER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 29, 1912. RENEWED JUNE 25, 1914.

1, 1 22,420,, Patented Dec. '29, 1914.

2 SHEETS-$11331 2.

ATTORNEY JOSEPH Y. PORTER, on DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

TRoLfEY-cA'roHEn.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 29, 191

Application filed March 29, 1912, Serial No. 687,002. Renewed June 25, 1914. Serial No. 847,336.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, JOSEPH Y. PORTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Detroit, county of Wayne, State of Michlgan, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in TrolleyCatchers, and declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification.

My invention relates to trolley catchers and an object of my improvements is to provide an improved trolley catcher which shall arrest the motion of a trolley that has left the wire with greater certainty than has been the case with previous devices.

I accomplish this object in the device illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure 1, is an elevation of a trolley catcher embodying my invention. Fig. 2, is a central section of the same. Fig. 3, is a section on the line 3-3, Figs. 1 and 2, looking from the right hand side of said line. Fig. 4c, is an elevation of the same looking from the left of Figs. 1 and 2, the casing being partly broken away. Fig. 5, is a View of the inertia plate and levers thereon looking at the interior face thereof. Fig. 6, is a side elevation of the sheave. Fig. 7, is an elevation of the sheave looking from the right of Fig. 6. Fig. 8, is an elevation showing the retrieving spring.

C, is the casing.

A, is a pintle coaxial with said casing and extending inward from the left hand side plate as shown in Fig. 2.

D, is a circular ratchet formed integral with said plate and pintle A.

E, is a pawl pivoted upon the sheave and adapted to engage the teeth of the ratchet D when the rope is removed.

B, is the sheave. This hasa long coaxial sleeve F which turns upon the pintle A and engages the retrieving spring G in theusual way.

H, is the rope which winds around the sheave B and is attached to the arm of the trolley.

J, is a plate sleeved upon the sleeve F so as to turn thereon. The plate J is provided with two stops P and Q. The adjacent face of the sheave B is provided with two lugs or projections M M (Figs. 3, 6

and 7). The lugs M are adapted to contact thestops P and Q to limit the relative angular movements of the plate J and sheave B.

I, is a spring uniting the plate J to the sheave B so that with an'ordinarily steady motion of the sheave B the plate J will be carried along with it, but if the sheave B is given a sudden motion, the inertia of the plate J will cause it to lag behind the sheave B so as to change the relative angular positions of said sheave and plate. Thus the plate J constitutes an inertia member.

K, is a lever or pawl pivoted upon the plate J near the periphery thereof and extending parallel to a tangent to the periphery of said plate.

K is a lever pivoted to the plate J opposite to the lever K and adapted in the usual way to balance the weight of the lever K.

N, is a series of ratchet teeth upon the easing C surrounding the plate J coaxial therewith and so located that when the lever K swings outward around its pivot it will engage in the teeth N and lock the plate J from movement.

R, is a tension spring acting to hold the lever K in its inward position.

L, is a pin extending from the face of the sheave B toward the plate J and adapted to engage the inner edge of the pawl K, which edge is formed for said pin to act upon it. The edge of the pawl K is so formed. for a part of that portion of it against which the pin L acts that when the plateJ is moved backward against the tension of the spring I said pin-will act against such edge as a camto-press the pawl K outward and for the remainder of the distance of its action will hold it in its outward and locked position, as indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The operation of the above described device is as follows: When the trolley leaves the wire it unwinds the rope H and sets the sheave B in rotary motion. If it accelerates it gradually,the disk J is carried along with the sheave and when a sufficient speed is attained the pawl K is carried out by centrifugal force engaging the teeth N and locking the plate J to the casing C. The sheave B now moves forward to the limit of its motion relative to the disk J against the action of the spring I bringing the pin L into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3, thus holding the pawl K in its engaging position. When the sheave B is stopped in this way and the motion of the trolley polo arrested. the trolley pole may bound backward which has caused the releasing of the locking devices in previous apparatus. When this occurs in the above described device, the pin L moves backward along the cam-like edge of the pawl K without per-- mitting the inward motion of said pawl the cam edge of the pawl being formed to secure this result. Thus the releasing of the pawl is prevented when the trolley rebounds as aoove described. Should the trolley be released from the wire under conditions that will bring an abnormally sudden pull on the rope, then the sheave B will he suddenly accelerated, the disk J will lag behind the sheave because of the inertia of the disk, and the pawl K will be thrown out by the action of the pin L. In this way the locking device will be operated either when a definite speed of rotation is attained, or when a definite acceleration occurs and the pawl will be held from being released when the trolley pole rebounds.

I/Vhat I claim is 1. In a trolley catcher, the combination of a revoluble sheave adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, an inertia member adapted to be carried by said sheave by a yielding connection, stationary ratchet teeth, a pawl on one of said revoluble parts for engaging said teeth, and means whereby said pawl is actuated by the relative movement of said parts.

2. In a trolley catcher, the combination of a revoluble sheave adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, an inertia member adapted to be carried by said sheave by a yielding connection, stationary ratchet teeth, a pawl on one of said revoluble parts for engaging said teeth, and means whereby said pawl is actuated by the relative movement of said parts, said pawl being adapted to be actuated by centrifugal force to engage said teeth.

3. In a trolley catcher, the combination of a revoluble sheave adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, a part adapted to be carried by said sheave by a yielding connection stationary ratchet teeth, a pawl upon one of said revoluble parts adapted to engage said teeth to lock said revoluble parts from mo tion, and means actuated by the relative motion of said parts for holding said pawl in engagement with said teeth, said holding means being adapted to permit a considerable relative motion of said movable parts without releasing said pawl. 7

4. In a trolley catcher, the combination of a revoluble sheave adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, a part connected with said sheave by a yielding connection and having a limited motion relative thereto, rachet teeth adjacent to said part, a pawl on said part adapted to engage said teeth to lock said part, and means whereby said pawl shall be held in locked position during a relative motion of said sheave and part.

5. The combination of the revoluble sheave B adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, an inertia plate J pivoted coaxial with said sheave, a spring I yieldingly uniting said sheave and plate, ratchet teeth N surrounding said plate, a pawl on said plate adapted to engage said teeth, a pin L on said sheave adapted to engage against said pawl to actuate the same to its locking position.

6. The combination of the revoluble sheave B adapted to be actuated by the trolley rope, an inertia plate J pivoted coaxial with said sheave, a spring I yieldingly uniting said sheave and plate, ratchet teeth N surrounding said plate, a pawl on said plate adapted to engage said teeth, a pin L on said sheave adapted to engage against said pawl to actuate the same to its locking position, while permitting the free motion of said pawl into locking position.

In testimony whereof, I sign this specification in the presence of two witnesses.

JOSEPH Y. PORTER.

Witnesses:

LOTTA LEE BRAY, R. A. PARKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, I). G. 

